


Composition in White and Red

by Willowbrooke



Series: Snow in Oxford [4]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-09 00:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1139096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowbrooke/pseuds/Willowbrooke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>As he walks towards her he wonders, not for the first time, how many dead bodies he has seen in his career and he knows that he really doesn't want an answer to that question.  Whatever the answer, it's too many.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Composition in White and Red

The call out comes just before James' alarm is set to go. He fumbles for his phone in a half-awake state. "Hathaway." Then, "Right, I'm on my way."

Robbie sits up in bed beside him, rubbing his eyes. "Where?" 

"Walking path along the Cherwell, directly behind St. Hilda's."

"Any details?"

"No. Female. Dr. Hobson hasn't arrived yet."

"Okay. Do you need anything?"

James leans over and kisses Robbie. "Mmm. I need you." He kisses him again, more slowly this time and reaches up to cup Robbie's face in his hand. As they pull back, Robbie smiles up at him, placing his own hand on James' cheek and leans in for another kiss.

"You're not making this easy you know." James smiles as they separate once more. He reluctantly rolls away and climbs out of bed. "It's early. Try to go back to sleep. I'll check in when I can."

It had snowed most of the night and the ground is now buried under a thick, white blanket. As James arrives at the scene, he is dismayed to see that the snow is actually picking up in intensity. Definitely not a good start to the day.

He sighs and takes a last drag on his partially-smoked cigarette. He tosses it aside as he ducks under the police tape. Through the falling snow, he can see Dr. Hobson bent over a body alongside the river and he moves in that direction. As he walks towards her he wonders, not for the first time, how many dead bodies he has seen in his career and he knows that he really doesn't want an answer to that question. Whatever the answer, it's too many.

"Good morning, Inspector," Laura looks up protecting her eyes from the snow as he stops beside her.

He returns her greeting with a smile and then glances down at the body of a young woman lying close to the riverbank. Snow is now visibly piling up on the body and a pool of red has formed in the snow beside the woman's head. The warmth of the blood has caused the snow to begin to melt slightly in that spot. There are several smaller spots of red scattered in the snow around the body. It reminds him a bit of drops of crimson paint strewn about on a white canvas. 

"Morning, sir." Sergeant Lockhart arrives looking as though she could have used a few more hours of sleep. She hands her governor a coffee.

"Morning, Julie. Thanks." He accepts the cup gratefully, takes a long sip and turns back to Dr. Hobson. "So, what can you tell us?"

Laura starts to explain that the preliminary examination indicates what seems to be obvious, a fatal blow to the head. As she continues speaking, James looks down at the pool of blood beside the body and finds himself distracted by images that crowd unbidden into his brain.

The first image is a simple one. He sees the blood on the snow as a Rorschach ink blot test using red ink instead of black. He first imagines an old man, stooped over. As he looks again, he sees an animal crouched, preparing to strike.

Next, his mind jumps to the scene from Alice in Wonderland where the playing cards are 'painting the roses red' hoping to avoid the Queen of Hearts' wrath and her shouts of, 'Off with their heads!' He sees them dipping their brushes into buckets of red paint as they splash red all over the white. 

He consciously shakes off this mental distraction and looks up to refocus on the present. As he does so, he sees that the snow has piled much deeper and there is little to see beyond a vast expanse of white. It's a perfect winter scene really. One that would rival any you might find on a classic picture postcard. 

He feels completely enveloped in this monochromatic landscape. He can make out the vague outline of objects, but white is the predominating colour and it surrounds him. It's remarkably beautiful and he smiles at the simple pleasure it gives him to be a part of it.

As he continues to look around, his eyes are drawn to the river. He is shocked to see that it is now running a deep shade of crimson red against the white banks. The dramatic contrast to the surrounding peaceful landscape is startling and produces in him an overwhelming fear.

His heart leaps into his throat and he shouts for Julie and Laura to confirm what he sees, but he realizes he is now standing alone. Alone except for the body at his feet.

Nerves completely raw now, he looks down and sees that the body is no longer that of a woman, but a man. Middle aged, dark-haired, but with slight touches of gray. He's wearing a nice suit and a tie that looks familiar. There is a steady stream of blood running from the man's head into the river.

James bends down to get a closer look at the man's face and...no! He stumbles backward and falls to the ground.

"No," he shouts as he thrashes around. "No!" He sits up in bed, trembling and gasping for breath.

Robbie is startled awake. Quickly realizing that James is having a nightmare, he reaches out and envelopes him in strong, loving arms.

"James! It's all right." Robbie holds tight and James clings to him as he struggles to wake. "It's only a dream, love. You're fine. I'm here."

Robbie continues to make comforting sounds and slowly James' trembling subsides. He looks at Robbie with confusion in his eyes as though trying to determine if this is the true reality. 

Seeing the love and concern in Robbie's face, he suddenly has no doubt that it is. He visibly relaxes and lets out a slow breath. He drops his head to Robbie's shoulder and lies there quietly for awhile longer.

"I'm sorry," he finally says, shaking his head. "It was so real. I...I rarely have nightmares." 

"Don't be daft, man. Nothin' to be sorry for. We all have nightmares from time to time. No reason you should be immune." He pauses for a moment and then continues. "If it would help to talk about it, I'm here, but if you'd rather not, that's okay too. Whatever you need, I'll do me best to provide it."

James smiles and feels his heart full of love for this man he now shares his life with. "Thank you, Robbie. You always give me what I need. And I do want to tell you, but maybe not just yet. It still feels too real. The odd bit of it was that for some reason, after you retired, I stayed on. I was an inspector and Julie was my sergeant."

Now it's Robbie's turn to smile. "Well, no surprise with you being an inspector and even in a nightmare you seem to have made a smart choice. I reckon Julie has a fine career ahead of her. I was just thinking the other day that we ought to have her and Laura round for dinner one night, though after this, we may want to wait a bit."

"No, it's fine, really. And I agree. I miss seeing them both. Besides, the dream really had little to do with Julie and Laura."

Robbie looks at the time and says, "It's still another couple of hours before you need to be up. What say we try to get a bit more sleep, eh?"

James nods and they both settle back down, James wrapping long arms and legs around Robbie as they snuggle under the blankets.

"Robbie, why do you suppose I'd have a dream like this now? It's been more than six months since we left and I haven't really given it much thought since. It's not like I've been dwelling on all the negative aspects of that job. Besides, being back in an academic environment is wonderful and my days now are filled with so many new challenges and so much happiness. Why would I dream about a river of blood?"

"River of blood? Definitely nightmarish. Who knows why, but it might be as simple as something someone said or even something you saw that subconsciously triggered it. I wouldn't read any deep meaning into it. Even Freud said, 'Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.' 

James laughs at that. "So sometimes a river of blood is just a river of blood. I'm very impressed, sir. You could have a second career as a psychologist."

"All right, smartarse. Sleep. And stop calling me sir."

James giggles again. "Yes, darling."

Robbie grins and holds James closer. "A laugh a minute you are."

Both are smiling as they drift back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> There is an image [here](http://media.photobucket.com/user/vampirebeth1/media/32028142.jpg.html?filters%5Bterm%5D=river%20of%20blood&filters%5Bprimary%5D=images&filters%5Bsecondary%5D=videos&sort=1&o=1) that might be similar to what James saw, though there wouldn't be that many trees along the Cherwell.
> 
> _With winter upon us, I had an idea to do a series of stories about various ways that snow might touch or impact the lives of Lewis and Hathaway. They will be written as a series, but each part will be a complete story. 'Snow' will be the only thing they will have in common._


End file.
